The big news in our household is that we adopted two kittens in July. Ever since Echo died, the kids had been asking to get new cats. I finally relented, and we adopted Ellie and Evie from a cat foster organization.
Ellie is the gray tabby on the left, and Evie is the white cat on the right. Evie has markings on her back that match Ellie's. They were the two cats left from a litter of four.
The day we adopted them, Jack and Violet agreed that Ellie would be his cat and Evie would be her cat. I don't know if it was a self-fulfilling prophecy, but that's basically how it's turned out. The kittens were really timid at first. They spent most of their day hiding under the kids' bed. They've become a little braver, but they're still pretty shy. Evie is definitely the more adventurous and outgoing of the two. She will come out and allow us to pet her. Ellie is more antisocial: she really only likes Jack.
The kids are obsessed with their cats, and it's fun to see how Jack especially has stepped up to take care of them. I personally could have waited quite a lot longer to get a new pet, and I was not excited at all about dealing with litter boxes. Jack has taken on this daily chore. There is a little more grumbling and complaining about it than I would like, but it's mostly getting done without too much management from me.
Otherwise, we have been keeping busy with our usual round of school, sports, and other activities. Jack continues to play baseball and soccer. I signed him up for a local basketball league over the summer. He resisted at first, saying that he wasn't interested, but he ended up really liking it. Violet also seemed interested, so now both kids are signed up for the winter session. He tried fencing over the summer and really liked it. We are fortunate enough to have a fencing teacher come to his school to offer lessons. Violet has discovered ice skating and has been taking lessons for the last few months. She is also taking tap and jazz dancing lessons, as well as choir at school.
We had a couple of fun vacations this year. We went to Cancun for Spring Break with friends. We stayed at an all-inclusive resort and went on some fun excursions, where we got to zip line and snorkel. The kids keep asking when we can go back. I tell them that there are so many places in the world to go, I want to visit somewhere new.
We also went to Yosemite with my parents over the summer. It was the kids' first time. The best part of it was getting to ride our bicycles all over the park and to see the sights that way.
One very sad thing that I should note is that the kids' uncle passed away in July. He had been ill for a while, but his death still came sooner than any of us expected. His son is the closest cousin my children have, and it's a sobering reminder for us all about the fragility of life and the importance of family. It has also helped reinforce the lessons of empathy that I try to teach my children on a daily basis.
Highlights of the year:
- Adopting our cats
- Going to Cancun and Yosemite
- The kids got to go skiing for the first time last January through the YMCA's Adventure Guides program. At first, only Violet was doing it with Tom. But Jack tagged along on the skiing trip and had so much fun that he decided to join as well.
- Jack scored a perfect score on the California standardized test for fourth grade.
Things to look forward to in 2018:
- The kids and I will be going to China in the spring with some of Jack's classmates.
- I'd like to take them to Disneyland at some point before the end of the school year.
- We will be seeing "Hamilton" in less than two weeks and "Les Miserables" in May.
- Jack will be starting middle school in the fall. He is very excited to go to a new school with a wider pool of friends. I'm excited for him as well, but already wistful that my little boy is almost old enough to start middle school.
Happy New Year.
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